It is well known to harvest fruit, such as, but not limited to, grapes, and berries such as blackcurrants, gooseberries or raspberries, olives and coffee beans, using an automatic harvester, which can be self-propelled or tractor driven. Reference in regard to modern self-propelled harvesting machines, Mérant U.S. Pat. No. 6,854,254, issued Feb. 15, 2005 to CNH France S.A., and entitled Harvesting Device With Disengageable Shaker Members For A Fruit Harvesting Machine.
Fruit harvesters, particularly for grapes, such as the harvester disclosed in the above-identified Mérant patent, typically utilize harvesting apparatus configured to exert forces against the vines bearing the fruit, in this example, by shaking them using a generally horizontal sinusoidal or pseudo-sinusoidal movement of a selected amplitude and frequency selected for detaching the fruit or the bunches of the fruit. This forceable movement is typically communicated to the whole of the vine by movable shaker members disposed to operate either on the stocks or the stems of the vines or on the vegetation, i.e. on the fruit-bearing area of the vine, depending on the type and number of shaker members used. As an example, the percentage of the bunches of grapes and/or individual grapes that are detached from the vine is typically a function of the number and amplitude of the oscillations to which a given bunch of grapes is subjected. The more vigorously a given bunch of grapes is shaken, and the greater the number of times it is shaken, the greater the chance of the bunch or its individual grapes being detached from the vine. The number and the amplitude of the oscillations to which a given bunch of grapes is subjected depend on various parameters for which suitable values can be selected, in particular the amplitude and the frequency of the output of the drive mechanism associated with the shaker members, the length of the active area of said shaker members, their stiffness or flexibility, and the rate at which the machine moves forward, and on other factors that are imposed by the vine itself, in particular how it is trained, its shape and the resistance that it has to the movement of the shaker members. As exemplified by the Mérant patent, the shaker members can be compiled in assemblies supported in face-to-face relation on opposite sides of a straddling frame defining an elongate passage therethrough.
In operation, the straddling frame is driven in straddling relation along a row of trees, vines or other plants carrying the fruit to be harvested, which pass through the passage. As this occurs, the shaker assemblies are oscillated by their drive mechanism in a cooperative manner, with sufficient forcefulness to correspondingly flex while in contact with the plants, to detach the grapes, berries, or other fruit. The detached fruit then falls into baskets of conveyors below the shaker assemblies.
A problem that has been encountered when harvesting fruits using an automated harvester such as described above, is that in many instances the rows of fruit plants include upstanding rigid, unyielding objects which are likewise contacted by the shaker members of the harvesting apparatus. Such rigid upstanding objects can include, for instance, reinforced concrete and metal posts. In particular, vines bearing grapes are often supported on trellises or wires supported by upstanding posts, poles or pipes of hard, unyielding material such as reinforced concrete containing metal wires and/or bars, at spaced intervals along the rows. The forces generated by such shaking or vibratory contact with such rigid unyielding objects, in combination with the effects of a rough surface texture thereof, e.g., weathered concrete, pitted metal, and the shape, of the objects, e.g., angular such as rectangular or octagonal, over time, results in damage to, and/or excessive wear of, the harvesting apparatus, particularly the shaker members, as well as possible damage to the rigid objects. Such contacts can also result in undesirable noise, and vibration which can be transmitted to the operator platform or cabin of the harvester.
Thus, what is sought is some manner of overcoming one or more of the problems and/or shortcomings set forth above.